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Imagining new accessible worlds
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  • Cripping the Arts Symposium 2019
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  • Crip Shorts

    • Crip Shorts

    Six extraordinary disabled performers from Canada and the UK bring their distinct creativity to this one-night celebration. Five short acts, each responding and re-defining the experience of disability through performance, featuring the UK “stumppeteer” Jackie Hagan, Canadian interdisciplinary creator Jessica Watkin, aerialist Erin Ball, poet Tamyka Bullen and theatrical dancers Justin Many Fingers and Brian Solomon.

    Alex Bulmer performing at Crip Shorts.
    Performer Alex Bulmer standing on stage wearing red boxer shorts and boxing gloves. Her arms are held high up above her head. Alex is illuminated by a spotlight; the rest of the room stage and room are dark.
    Erin Ball performing at Crip Shorts.
    Erin Ball performing at “Crip Shorts”. Erin is balanced by zir hips on a bar across the top of the frame of a manual wheelchair. Zir right hand is on the arm rest, and ze is in side profile, looking at the ground. Both legs are up in the air, and both end in prosthetics below the knee. The prosthetics are black pegs with rubber tips. Erin has red hair in a side ponytail.
    Jackie Hagan performing at Crip Shorts.
    A wide shot of Jackie on stage. She is holding her prosthetic leg to her forehead. The screen behind her has an image of an amputated leg with a face drawn on it. The ASL interpreter is pictured on the left side of the photo.
    Tamyka Bullen performing at Crip Shorts.
    A photo of Tamyka Bullen. She is standing in front of a screen and gesturing with one hand over the other. The words on the screen say “textures, flavour, odour, colours stimulate my soul; enlighten my soul Rangoli I bury my hands into colourful rices on the floor Feel the rices clash Smell the raw of rices My hands create pictures, vibration, the dance in the air…”.
    Brian Soloman and Justin Manyfingers performing at Crip Shorts.
    A photo of Justin Manyfingers and Brian Solomon on stage. They are holding hands, and looking at their clasped hands with expressions of shock or grimaces.
    Performers from Crip Shorts on stage during a standing ovation.
    All seven performers from “Crip Shorts” stand on stage. From left to right: Jessica Watkin, Justin Manyfingers, Brian Solomon, Jackie Hagan, Erin Ball, Tamyka Bullen, and Alex Bulmer. They are illuminated in pink light, and the rest of the stage and the audience is dark.

    Performers

    Black and white portrait of Erin Ball.
    A black and white photo of Erin Ball, a white person with long brown hair, wearing a sparkly leotard patterned with swirls. Ze is holding a circus hoop.

    Performer: Erin Ball

    Erin Ball (Canada) is a circus artist, coach, owner of Kingston Circus Arts, and co-owner of LEGacy Circus. After events resulting in the loss of zir lower legs, Erin works to create new, creative, and different ways of executing zir skills as a circus performer.

    A black and white portrait of Jess Watkin.
    A black and white portrait of Jess Watkin. Jess is a white woman with long hair and glasses. She is resting her chin in one hand and smiling at the camera.

    Performer: Jessica Watkin

    Jessica Watkin (Canada) is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies focusing on disabled approaches to creating performance in Canada. She is a playwright and interdisciplinary creator working with physical and non-visual approaches to creation.

    Black and white portrait of Jackie Hagan.
    A black and white portrait of Jackie Hagan. Jackie’s brown hair is in two buns and she has several tattoos on her arms. She is holding a small packet of Frazzles crisps, and the other hand is holding a crisp up to her open mouth.

    Performer: Jackie Hagan

    Jackie Hagan (UK) is a multi award-winning playwright, poet, and stand-up comedian. She is passionate about inclusivity in the widest sense and experiences often excluded from the mainstream narrative. She has performed and delivered workshops in hundreds of venues, including prisons, homeless shelters, and high-secure psychiatric units.

    Black and white portrait of Tamyka Bullen.
    A black and white portrait of Tamyka Bullen smiling at the camera. Tamyka has curly dark hair and glasses, and a white flower is in her hair.

    Performer: Tamyka Bullen

    Tamyka Bullen (Canada) has been involved in social justice activism and social services for 20+ years and has worked with women, immigrants, LGBTQA, and youth. She has been performing her poetry at different theatres since 2015 and in 2018, began acting for Deaf That! and After the Blackout.

    Black and white portrait of Justin Many Fingers.
    A black and white portrait of Mii-Sum-In-Iskum (Long Time Buffalo Rock), a.k.a Justin Many Fingers, an Indigenous person with short dark hair and glasses.

    Performer: Justin Many Fingers

    Justin Many Fingers (Canada) or Mii-Sum-In-Iskum (Long Time Buffalo Rock) is a founding member and the new Artistic Director of the Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society, and an international performing artist. His Government name is Justin Many Fingers, and he is a Queer, Indigenous, disabled, and Mad artist from the Kanawa Blackfoot Reserve in Southern Alberta.

    Black and white portrait of Brian Solomon.
    A black and white portrait of Anishnaabe and Irish artist Brian Solomon speaking into a microphone with his arms raised above his head. He is wearing a white dress shirt hanging off one shoulder and a striped tie.

    Performer: Brian Solomon

    Brian Solomon (Canada) is an award-winning creator of Anishinaabe and Irish descent, born in Shebahonaning, located in the Manitoulin district of Northern Ontario. Solomon has presented his multidisciplinary works across Turtle Island and internationally. He is passionate about helping people relearn about their forgotten bodies, and take back the space those bodies occupy. Website: electricmoose.ca

    A black and white portrait of Alex Bulmer.
    A black and white portrait of Alex Bulmer smiling at the camera. Alex is a white woman with short sandy hair.

    Performer: Alex Bulmer

    Alex Bulmer (Canada) is an award-winning writer, director, and performer who divides her time between working in Canada and Europe. She is co-Artistic Director of Common Boots Theatre in Toronto, and Artistic Director of Invisible Flash UK. In 2014, Alex was named one of the most influential disabled artists by UK’s Power Magazine.

    Day 3: Embodying the Intersections

    Brownton Abbey

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